CRANBERRY SWEET & SOUR MEATBALLS

1 Basic Meatballs recipe
2 Tb veg oil
1/2 C finely chopped onion
1/2 C finely chopped bell pepper
1 tsp minced fresh garlic
1 15 oz can jellied cranberry sauce
1/3 C cider vinegar
1/3 C honey
1/4 C Dijon mustard
2 TB soy sauce
2 TB Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 375 F. Coat a large baking sheet w/ cooking spray. Arrange Basic Meatballs on prepared baking sheet. Bake, uncovered, for 20 to 30 minutes or till cooked through (internal temp should be 160 F.)

2. Meanwhile, for sauce, preheat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook onion, bell pepper, and garlic in hot oil for 3 to 5 minutes or until onion is tender. Turn heat to low. Add cranberry sauce, vinegar, honey, mustard, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and, if desired, red pepper flakes. Simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes, stirring frequently. Add cooked meatballs; heat through.

BASIC MEATBALLS
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In a large bowl combine
1/2 C soft white bread crumbs and
1/2 C milk. Let soak 5 minutes. Add
2 lbs lean ground beef,
1/2 C finely chopped onion,
1 egg, beaten,
1 tsp dried Italian mixed herbs, crushed,
1 tsp salt, and
1/2 tsp black pepper.
Mix well. Form meat mixture into 24 lg or 48 small meatballs.

Plan ahead: Prepare through Step 1 up to one day ahead. Cover & refrigerate. Continue according to Step 2.

Cool thing about this recipe, it's freezable!! Place cooked meatballs & sauce in a freezer bag & freeze up to 2 months. Defrost completely in refrigerator. Reheat over low heat until hot & bubbly.
I usually at least double a recipe to freeze it; makes busy weeknights a breeze.

When cooking the meatballs, if you can cook them on something raised like a roasting rack I think it'd work better. I used ground chuck, but there was still fat underneath. I ended up having to "wipe" each meatball (I made 48..ugh) off because I didn't want the fat sticking to it. If it could drain, I think that could be eliminated. Or, just used super lean meat.

 I make huge batches (50-150) of  small  turkey meatballs and even with lean turkey I cook them on racks to let the grease drain off.  I have several racks I use for cooling cookies and breads and I toss those on foil lined cookie sheets.   I would freeze the meatballs and the sauce separately just because if you make the meatballs then you can use them for anything.  I freeze mine on sheets of wax paper until they are frozen and then put them in a gallon bag and pull out a few at a time for "oops forgot to thaw anything it is spaghetti night!"

 +1 I do that All The time......

 

Why would you freeze them until they are frozen?

 

 Just stay out of the meat thread and nobody will get hurt.